New Imperatives

This concluding chapter reflects on the new imperatives that are shaping Scottish theatre in the third decade of the twenty-first century. These include engagements with environmental politics, current discourses in gender, sexuality, ageism and disability, and the country’s imperial inheritance particularly as it relates to the legacies of chattel slavery and its attendant racisms. The chapter also considers some of the very real challenges facing the sector in terms of funding and the damage inflicted by ongoing political short-termism, policies of austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic. It concludes with a concise summary of the book’s key issues and themes.